Multiply-integrated system for product inventory, sales, and distribution

ABSTRACT

A multiply-integrated system for inventory, sales, and distribution of products comprises a supplier database, an order database, and a programmed order processor. The supplier database includes inventory/pricing information for multiple independent participating product suppliers, which may include: product manufacturers, distributors, and/or retailers. The order database includes order information received by the multiple participating product suppliers from multiple independent product purchasers. The multiple product purchasers may include any or all of: product manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and/or purchasers. The order processor is linked to the databases and programmed for implementing a multiply-integrated method comprising the steps of: a) receiving/entering pricing/inventory information for the supplier database; b/c) receiving/entering order information for multiple product purchasers into the order database; d) searching for ordered products available from a supplier; e) issuing instructions for delivery of each ordered and located product; f) updating the order database; and g) creating a financial accounting record for delivered products.

BENEFIT CLAIMS TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. non-provisional applicationSer. No. 11/854,467 filed Sep. 12, 2007 (now U.S. Pat. No 7,664,757),which is a divisional of U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No.09/874,481 filed Jun. 4, 2001 (now U.S. Pat. No 7,363,249). Both of saidapplications are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forthherein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the present invention relates to systems for productinventory, sales, and distribution. In particular, systems and methodsare described herein for multiply-integrated product inventory, sales,and distribution.

BACKGROUND

FIG. 1A is a schematic block diagram of a traditional system forinventory, sales, and distribution of products. Such a traditionalsystem is vertically integrated and highly hierarchical, with mostentities filling only limited roles in the overall system. Productmanufacturers 110 are located at the top of the hierarchy, and sendproducts primarily to distributors 120 and sometimes also to productretailers 130 as requested. The distributors 120 represent a primaryrepository for product inventory in the system. Some product retailers130 may obtain product inventory directly from product manufacturers110, but most typically obtain product inventory from productdistributors 120 as required to maintain in-store stock (i.e., a “localinventory”) in a physical store, and/or to ship to remotely-ordering(catalog, phone, online) retail product purchasers (remote inventory).Product retailers 130 are typically the primary interface between thesystem and a product purchaser 140 (typically a retail consumer). Insome instances a product retailer 130 may arrange to have orderedproducts shipped directly from a product distributor 120 (i.e., from a“remote inventory”) to a product purchaser 140 (either with or withoutthe purchaser being aware of this). This variation of the traditionalsystem is known as consumer direct fulfillment (CDF; FIG. 1B). Productmanufacturers 110 may sometimes also offer consumer direct fulfillment.

As mentioned above, the traditional system for inventory, sales, anddistribution of products is highly “vertically” integrated. Productspredominantly flow downward through the hierarchy, while revenue flowspredominantly upward. For a group of entities offering products within acommon product category (i.e., music, video, books, software, clothing,furniture, sporting goods, and so on), each entity in the hierarchytypically does not interact with other members of the same level (no“horizontal” or “lateral” integration of the system), and typicallyinteracts with only one or a few members of the one or two next higherlevels (little “diagonal” integration). Traditional notions ofcompetition in commerce tend to limit an entity's willingness tointeract “horizontally”. Each entity of the traditional system oftenplays only a single role (product manufacturer, product distributor, orproduct retailer) The systems of FIGS. 1A and 1B are somewhat static,and slow to respond to changing market conditions, sales trends, and/orproduct demand patterns. Each participating entity of the system(particularly the product retailers, especially individual local orregional retailers that are not part of a chain) has only limitedopportunities for realizing improved economies of scale in itsacquisition/inventory/sales/distribution of products, since itsinteractions with other entities in the system are typically limited.

The somewhat modified traditional systems shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D aretypical of the music, entertainment, and/or publishing industries, andinclude content providers 105 (i.e., musicians, studios, authors,production companies, and so on). In the publishing industry, publishinghouses are product manufacturers 110 and represent authors (the contentproviders 105 in this example). Book wholesalers may serve as productdistributors 120, and retail bookstores (physical and/or online) are theproduct retailers 130. Books and other publications flow down throughthe hierarchy, while revenue flows upward. One participating entity mayparticipate at more than one level of the hierarchical system(publisher/wholesaler, distributor/retailer, publisher/retailer, or evenpublisher/distributor/retailer), but there are few if any “horizontal”exchanges or interactions in this scenario. Products eventually reachindividual stores, which may comprise physical stores visited by retailcustomers to purchase and/or order published products, or may receiveremotely-placed orders from customers via catalog, phone, or online (viaInternet and so forth). Published-product purchasers 140 may obtainpurchased products directly from a product retailer 130 (fulfillmentfrom local inventory; FIG. 1C) or by “drop shipment” from a productdistributor 120 (fulfillment from remote inventory; CDF; FIG. 1D).Manufacturers 110, distributors 120, or even content providers 105 mayact directly as product retailers and/or offer consumer directfulfillment, particularly in an online sales environment.

In the music/entertainment industry, a more complex situation exists.Musicians (content providers 105) are often associated with recordlabels, which in turn may operate independently or be associated withone of the roughly five major distribution houses (which form anoligopoly) or one of several secondary or regional distributors. Theactual product to be sold (DVD, CD, tape, other media, digital file, andso forth) may be manufactured by the musician(s), the label, the majordistribution house or other distributor, or even contracted out. Any ofthese entities may therefore serve as a product manufacturer, and/or mayalso serve as a product distributor. The product distributors 120(independent label, distribution house, other distributor, etc) in turnship products to individual record stores, which fill the role ofproduct retailers 130. The record stores may be physical stores visitedby retail customers to purchase (from local inventory) and/or ordermusic products, and/or may receive remotely-placed orders from customersvia catalog, phone, or online (via Internet and so forth). The retailstore may fulfill orders itself (orders placed locally at a physicalstore or remotely; fulfillment from local inventory; FIG. 1C), or mayhave the ordered music products “drop shipped” directly from adistributor to the retail purchaser (fulfillment from remote inventory;CDF; FIG. 1D). The music purchaser need not be aware of theparticipation of the distributor. Music products flow downward throughthe hierarchy and revenue flows upward, with few if any “horizontal”exchanges between entities within the same level of the hierarchy.Similarly complex hierarchical relationships exist for other areas ofthe entertainment industries among studios, production companies,distributors, retail outlets, and so forth.

The existence of a significant market for used, rare, so-called privatelabel, and/or other non-standard music products is an additionalvariation that may be imposed on the systems depicted in FIGS. 1C and 1D(often referred-to as “non-catalog” products in the music industry).Many local/regional retailers (but often not larger chains) willpurchase used music products from retail customers. The inventory ofused products available for retail re-sale is generally restricted tobeing offered only to purchasers within the reach of the acquiringretailer, with little or no opportunity for wider availability.Conversely, there is little or no opportunity for a local/regionalretailer to offer a wider selection of used products than its own localinventory. Some local/regional retailers may enter into agreements withlocal/regional musicians to produce music products on a local/regionallevel and generally offered for sale only from the local inventory ofthe local/regional retailer. Few opportunities exist for a retailer tooffer such so-called private-label products of other retailers. Similarlimitations are encountered when offering out-of-production,collectible, rare, or otherwise non-standard products.

It is therefore desirable to provide systems and methods for providingmultiply-integrated product inventory, sales, and distribution. A“multiply-integrated system” is meant to include “vertical” (betweenparticipants in differing levels), “horizontal” (between participantswithin the same level), and “diagonal” (between a participant of a leveland many participants in other levels) interactions between participantsin the system, wherein each participant offers products for distributionand/or sale within a common product category or class (examples: a groupof participating music/video suppliers; a group of participatingbook/magazine suppliers; a group of participating furniture suppliers; agroup of participating software suppliers; a group of participatingsporting goods suppliers; and so forth). It is desirable to providemultiply-integrated systems and methods wherein product identification,product inventory, product pricing, order, and/or sales information formultiple participants in the system is gathered into system databasesfor enabling integration of the system. It is desirable to provide amultiply-integrated system for inventory, sales, and distribution ofproducts wherein any participant in the system may act in multiplecapacities within the system (i.e., as a product manufacturer, a productdistributor, and/or a product retailer). It is desirable to providemultiply-integrated systems and methods for enabling exchanges ofproducts and/or revenues between any participants in the system,including “horizontal” exchanges. It is desirable to providemultiply-integrated systems enabling participants in any level of thehierarchical system to accept orders from product purchasers. It isdesirable to provide multiply-integrated systems and methods enablingparticipants in any level of the hierarchical system to provide consumerfulfillment (direct or indirect) for orders placed with participants inany hierarchical level, particularly retailer-to-retailer consumerfulfillment. It is desirable to provide multiply-integrated systems andmethods enabling rapid adjustment of product inventory (local and/orremote inventory) and/or product pricing to changing market conditions,sales trends, and/or product demand patterns. It is desirable to providemultiply-integrated systems and methods enabling participants in thesystem, particularly product retailers, to realize improved economies ofscale. It is desirable to provide multiply-integrated systems andmethods to enable a participant in the system to pool inventories and/ororders of physical and online operations in real time to leverageimprovements in efficiencies in the system. It is desirable to providemultiply-integrated systems and methods to enable multiple participantsin the system to pool inventories and/or orders in real time to leverageimprovements in efficiencies in the system. It is desirable to providemultiply-integrated systems and methods enabling real-time automatedorder fulfillment, pricing adjustments, inventory adjustments, and/orother adjustments to the distribution and/or flow of products andrevenue to/from/within the system. It is desirable to providemultiply-integrated systems and methods enabling a participant in thesystem to selectively interact with other participants in the system. Itis desirable to provide multiply-integrated systems and methods enablinga participant in the system to maintain independence and autonomy. It isdesirable to provide multiply-integrated systems and methods enablingparticipants, particularly local/regional product retailers, to offer awider array of non-standard products, and to offer their ownnon-standard products to a wider group of potential purchasers.

SUMMARY

Certain aspects of the present invention may overcome one or moreaforementioned drawbacks of the previous art and/or advance thestate-of-the-art of systems for product inventory, sales, anddistribution, and in addition may meet one or more of the followingobjects:

-   -   To provide systems and methods for providing multiply-integrated        product inventory, sales, and distribution for participating        product suppliers each offering products of a common product        category or class;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods wherein        inventory, pricing, order, and/or sales information for multiple        participants in the system is gathered into system databases for        enabling integration of the system;    -   To provide a multiply-integrated system for inventory, sales,        and distribution of products wherein any participant in the        system may act in multiple capacities within the system (i.e.,        as a product manufacturer, a product distributor, and/or a        product retailer;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods for enabling        exchanges of products and/or revenues between any participants        in the system, including “horizontal” exchanges;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems enabling participants in        any level of the hierarchical system to accept orders from        product purchasers;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods enabling        participants in any level of the hierarchical system to provide        consumer direct fulfillment for orders placed with participants        in any hierarchical level, particularly retailer-to-retailer        consumer fulfillment;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods enabling        rapid adjustment of inventory and/or pricing to changing market        conditions, sales trends, and/or product demand patterns;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods enabling        participants in the system, particularly product retailers, to        realize improved economies of scale;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods to enable a        participant in the system to pool inventories and/or orders of        physical and online operations in real time to leverage        improvements in efficiencies in the system;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods to enable        multiple participants in the system to pool inventories and/or        orders in real time to leverage improvements in efficiencies in        the system;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods enabling        real-time automated order fulfillment, pricing adjustments,        inventory adjustments, and/or other adjustments to the        distribution and/or flow of products and revenue to/from/within        the system;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods enabling a        participant in the system to selectively interact with other        participants in the system;    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods enabling a        participant in the system to maintain independence and autonomy;        and    -   To provide multiply-integrated systems and methods enabling        participants, particularly product retailers, to offer a wider        array of non-standard products, and to offer their own        non-standard products to a wider group of potential purchasers.

One or more of the foregoing objects may be achieved in the presentinvention by a system comprising a supplier database, an order database,and a programmed order processor. The supplier database includes productidentifying information, product inventory information, and productpricing information for multiple independent participating productsuppliers, which may include any or all of: participating productmanufacturers, participating product distributors, and/or participatingproduct retailers. It may be particularly desirable to include productretailers among the multiple participating product suppliers. Each ofthe participating product suppliers offers products of a common productcategory or class. The order database includes order informationpertaining to orders received by the multiple participating productsuppliers from multiple independent product purchasers, both pending andfulfilled. The multiple product purchasers may include any or all of:participating product manufacturers, participating product distributors,participating product retailers, non-participating productmanufacturers, non-participating product distributors, non-participatingproduct retailers, and/or retail product purchasers. The order processoris operatively linked to the databases and programmed for implementing amultiply-integrated method for inventory, sale, and distribution ofproducts according to the present invention.

One or more of the foregoing objects may be achieved in the presentinvention by said multiply-integrated method, comprising the steps of:a) automatically receiving product identifying information, productpricing information, and product inventory information from the multipleparticipating product suppliers and entering the information into thesupplier database; b) automatically receiving, from multipleparticipating product suppliers, order information pertaining to ordersplaced by multiple product purchasers with the multiple participatingproduct suppliers; c) automatically entering the received orderinformation into the order database; d) automatically searching, foreach order placed by each product purchaser, the supplier database toattempt to locate each ordered product listed in the placed order andavailable for delivery from a corresponding participating productsupplier; e) automatically issuing instructions for delivery, for eachorder placed by each product purchaser, of each ordered and locatedproduct to the product purchaser from the corresponding participatingproduct supplier, thereby fulfilling the order; f) automaticallyupdating order information in the order database pertaining to eachdelivered product; g) automatically updating product inventory in thesupplier database pertaining to each delivered product; and h) creatinga financial accounting record for each delivered product.

Implementation of systems and methods according to the present inventionrelaxes the rigid vertically-integrated hierarchical productdistribution system depicted in FIGS. 1A-1D to yield amultiply-integrated product inventory, sale, and distribution.“Multiply-integrated” here is meant to include vertical, horizontal, and“diagonal” interactions between participants within the system. Productinventory and revenue may flow between any participating productsuppliers under the present invention. Orders placed with oneparticipating product supplier may be fulfilled by any otherparticipating product supplier. Multiple product retailers offering usedor otherwise non-standard products may thereby offer a wider inventoryof such products to a wider group of potential purchasers. Localinventories of the participating suppliers may be dynamicallyredistributed according to the immediate demands made of the system.Participating product suppliers may realize improved economies of scale,and the system may pool or aggregate inventories and/or orders toleverage improved efficiencies in the system.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention may becomeapparent upon referring to the preferred and alternative embodiments ofthe present invention as illustrated in the drawings and described inthe following written description and/or claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a schematic block diagram of a prior system for productinventory, sales, and distribution.

FIG. 1B is a schematic block diagram of a prior system for productinventory, sales, and distribution.

FIG. 1C is a schematic block diagram of a prior system for productinventory, sales, and distribution.

FIG. 1D is a schematic block diagram of a prior system for productinventory, sales, and distribution.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a multiply-integrated system forproduct inventory, sales, and distribution according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic process diagram of multiply-integrated systems andmethods for product inventory, sales, and distribution according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic process diagram of multiply-integrated systems andmethods for product inventory, sales, and distribution according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic process diagram of multiply-integrated systems andmethods for product inventory, sales, and distribution according to thepresent invention.

In each of the Figures, different line styles with arrows are use toindicate the flow of order information (dashed lines with arrows),product (solid lines with arrows), and revenue (dot-dashed lines witharrows).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS

For purposes of the present written description and/or claims, the term“system” shall generally denote an apparatus for multiply-integratedproduct inventory, sales, and distribution according to the presentinvention, and may also include methods implemented using such anapparatus. For purposes of the present written description and/orclaims, the term “online” shall denote an activity which is performed bysending and/or receiving text, data, images, graphics, commands,requests, queries, and so forth over a communications network through aninterface device. This may preferably mean using a computer connected tothe Internet, but may also include other interface devices (includingbut not limited to: computers, workstations, terminals, televisions,wireless devices, hand-held or “palm-top” devices, electronicorganizers, telephones, wireless telephones, messaging units, and thelike; combinations thereof; and/or functional equivalents thereof) andother networks (Internet, Internet 2, next-generation Internet, othersuccessors to the Internet, World-Wide Web, telephone networks, local-or wide-area networks, wireless networks, optical networks,satellite-based networks, and the like; combinations thereof; and/orfunctional equivalents thereof).

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a multiply-integrated system forproduct inventory, sales, and distribution according to the presentinvention, comprising a supplier database 210, an order database 220,and programmed processor 230 operatively linked to the databases 210 and220. The supplier database 210 includes product identifying information,product inventory information, and product pricing information formultiple independent participating product suppliers, which may includeany or all of: participating product manufacturers, participatingproduct distributors, and/or participating product retailers. It may beparticularly desirable to include multiple product retailers among themultiple participating product suppliers. Each of the multipleindependent participating product suppliers offers products of a commonproduct category or class. Each member of a chain or group ofcommonly-owned or commonly-franchised product retailers shall not beconsidered independent within the scope of inventive concepts disclosedand/or claimed herein, but rather each such chain or group shall becollectively designated a single participating entity within the scopeof inventive concepts disclosed and/or claimed herein. The orderdatabase 220 includes order information pertaining to orders received bythe multiple participating product suppliers from multiple independentproduct purchasers, both pending and fulfilled. The multiple productpurchasers may include any or all of: participating productmanufacturers, participating product distributors, participating productretailers, non-participating product manufacturers, non-participatingproduct distributors, non-participating product retailers, and/or retailproduct purchasers. The order processor 230 is operatively linked to thedatabases and programmed for implementing multiply-integrated methodsfor inventory, sale, and distribution of products according to thepresent invention.

Databases 210 and 220 may preferably comprise digitally encoded andstored data corresponding to order information, product identifyinginformation, product inventory information, product pricing information,as well as other pertinent information such as product supplier name,location, mailing and/or shipping address, Internet/Web address, emailaddress, and so forth for each of the multiple independent productsuppliers, and similar information for product purchasers. Productinventory and/or product pricing information may preferably stored inthe supplier database in a search table common to the multipleparticipating product suppliers. The databases may be stored on anysuitable medium or combination of media and preferably include one ormore connections, links, and/or interfaces enabling users of the systemto access the information in the databases via the programmed processor230. The system preferably includes a user interface and appropriatedata links to enable participating product suppliers and purchasers tointeract with the system through processor 230 and implement the methodsaccording to the present invention. In FIG. 2 processor 230 is shownlinked to a communications network 290 to enable online access byparticipating product suppliers and participating product purchasers tothe system (i.e., participating product manufacturers 310, participatingproduct distributors 320, and/or participating product retailers 330).Product content providers (not shown) may also be linked to the system.

FIGS. 3 through 5 are schematic process diagrams illustrating variousmultiply-integrated methods of inventory, sale, and distribution ofproducts according to the present invention. “Multiply-integrated”herein is meant to include “vertical” (between participants in differinglevels), “horizontal” (between participants within the same level), and“diagonal” (between a participant of a level and many participants inother levels) interactions between participants in the system. Eachparticipating product supplier offers products of a common productcategory or class. A preferred method may comprise the steps of: a)automatically receiving product identifying information, product pricinginformation, and product inventory information from the multipleparticipating product suppliers, which may include any or all ofparticipating product content providers (not shown), participatingproduct manufacturers 310, participating product distributors 320,and/or participating product retailers 330, and entering the informationinto the supplier database 210; b) automatically receiving, frommultiple participating product suppliers, order information pertainingto orders placed by multiple product purchasers 340 (which may includeany or all of: participating product manufacturers, participatingproduct distributors, participating product retailers, non-participatingproduct manufacturers, non-participating product distributors,non-participating product retailers, and/or retail product purchasers)with the multiple participating product suppliers; c) automaticallyentering the received order information into the order database 220; d)automatically searching, for each order placed by each product purchaser340, the supplier database 210 to attempt to locate each ordered productlisted in the placed order and available for delivery from acorresponding participating product supplier; e) automatically issuinginstructions for delivery, for each order placed by each productpurchaser, of each ordered and located product to the product purchaserfrom the corresponding participating product supplier, therebyfulfilling the order; f) automatically updating order information in theorder database 220 pertaining to each delivered product; g)automatically updating the product inventory information pertaining toeach delivered product in the supplier database; and h) creating afinancial accounting record for each delivered product (representing aflow of revenue).

The gathering from all participating product suppliers (each offeringproducts of a common product category or class) of order, productinventory, and product pricing information into common databases and/orcommon search tables enables any participating product supplier(including product content providers and particularly including productretailers) to assume any role within the system (i.e., productmanufacturer 310, product distributor 320, and/or product retailer 330).Systems and methods implemented according to the present invention mayenable exchanges of products and/or revenues between any participatingproduct suppliers, and may facilitate exchanges between a participatingproduct supplier and substantially more other participating productsuppliers than was possible under prior systems of product inventory,sales, and distribution. A significant and desirable feature of systemsand methods implemented according to the present invention may be theenablement of “horizontal” exchanges among participating productsuppliers, particularly among participating product retailers(“retailer-to-retailer” exchanges). The commercial interactions enabledby systems and methods implemented according to the present inventionmove substantially beyond mere “co-marketing” agreements to virtuallyintegrate the local product inventories of the participating productsuppliers.

Systems and methods according to the present invention may beparticularly suitable for implementation for inventory, sale, anddistribution of products in the music, entertainment, publishing, and/orsoftware fields for distributing music, movies, video programming,books, magazines, other printed publications, games, programs, datacompilations, and other content on CDs, audio and/or video tapes, DVDs,magnetic media, printed media, and other suitable media. Forimplementation of systems and methods according to the present inventionin the fields of music, entertainment, publishing, and/or software, themultiple independent participating product suppliers may further includeproduct content providers (not shown), including musicians (solo artistsand groups), studios, production companies, actors, actresses,composers, arrangers, writers, authors, editors, compilers, researchers,and so forth.

Delivery of an ordered product (i.e., order fulfillment) may be achievedin several ways according to the present invention, as illustrated inFIG. 3. Once a product ordered by a purchaser 340 (typically a retailpurchaser, but may also be any participating or non-participatingproduct supplier) has been located in the local inventory of acorresponding product supplier, the ordered and located product may beshipped to the product supplier 330 that originally received the order(consumer indirect fulfillment; transactions 351 and 352 of FIG. 3). Thereceiving product supplier may then ship the product to the productpurchaser, or may send a notification to the purchaser that the productis ready to be picked up. Such a notification may be automaticallygenerated by the system. Alternatively, the ordered and located productmay be shipped directly from the corresponding product supplier to theproduct purchaser (consumer direct fulfillment; transactions 353 and 354of FIG. 3). This may be done with or without the knowledge of theproduct purchaser. Concealment of the identity of the fulfillingparticipating product supplier may be preferred, as well as limitingaccess of the fulfilling participating product supplier to the identityof the product purchaser. A particularly significant implementation ofsystems and methods according to the present invention comprisesfulfillment (direct or indirect) of orders received by a first productretailer and fulfilled by a second product retailer(retailer-to-retailer consumer fulfillment; transactions 352 and 353 ofFIG. 3). Revenue may be transferred directly between the order-receivingand fulfilling product suppliers (transactions 351 and 352 of FIG. 3) ormay be transferred indirectly through mediation of the system210/220/230 (transactions 353 and 354 of FIG. 3). This latter method forhandling revenue flow/financial transactions may be preferred, andshifts the burdens associated with revenue collection and financialverifications from the individual participants to the system. Indirectsystem-mediated financial transactions may also enable systemparticipants to conceal their identities from other participants(discussed further hereinbelow). While the example transactions of FIG.3 (and FIGS. 4 and 5 described hereinbelow) all involve orders initiallyplaced with a product retailer 330, transactions involving ordersinitially placed with other participating product suppliers are alsowithin the scope of the system and methods implemented according to thepresent invention.

Systems and methods implemented according to the present invention mayprovide any individual participating product retailer (or otherparticipating product supplier) with a remote product inventory that mayinclude the collective local product inventories of many or all of theother participating product retailers (and/or many or all of the otherparticipating product suppliers). This potentially vast increase inproduct inventory comes without the accompanying expense to theindividual product retailer of maintaining the entire collectiveinventory locally. The system according to the present invention maytherefore enable a collection of perhaps a few dozen individuallocal/regional product retailers to provide product offerings as wide asa national chain or a large online retailer. Conversely, systems andmethods according to the present invention may enable a participatingproduct supplier, particularly a local/regional retailer, to offer itslocal inventory to a wider audience of product purchasers, since theparticipating product supplier may gain access to a geographicallyfar-flung inventory, sales, and distribution system.

Systems and methods implemented according to the present invention mayenable participating product suppliers, and in particular participatingproduct retailers, to realize efficiencies and/or economies of scalethat could not be achieved individually. To achieve operatingefficiencies, the system may be programmed to automatically select forfulfilling each order an optimum product supplier available. Thefigures-of-merit used to select a supplier may include productavailability, product price, speed of delivery, shipping/handling fees,and so forth, and may be made available from the supplier database. Thesystem may be further programmed to enable each participating productsupplier to independently select which figure(s)-of-merit to considerand target values for those figure(s)-of-merit to be used in selectingfulfilling product suppliers.

To achieve economies of scale, order information pertaining to multipleorders received by a product supplier (particularly a product retailer)may be aggregated, and the product supplier database searched in realtime for an optimum source (in terms of price, shipping costs,availability/timeliness, and/or other figure-of-merit; as discussedhereinabove) among the participating product suppliers, as in theexample depicted in FIG. 4. While a product distributor 320 is shown asthe optimum source for fulfilling multiple orders received by a productretailer 330 in FIG. 4, aggregated orders from any participating productsupplier may be fulfilled by any of the participating suppliers as theoptimum source, including product retailers. Multiple orders placed atmultiple locations of a product supplier, or at a physical location andan online presence of a product supplier (or otherwise remotely placed),may be aggregated in a similar fashion. Both products for fulfillment oforders and products for maintaining/replenishing local inventory forlater shipment or direct sales may be aggregated in order to find anoptimum product source. Even more significantly, local inventoryreplenishment and order fulfillment information from multiple ordersfrom multiple product suppliers (especially from multiple productretailers) may be automatically aggregated in real time, and the systemdatabases searched for an optimum source of products, as in the exampledepicted in FIG. 5. While a product distributor 320 is shown as theoptimum source for fulfilling multiple orders received by multipleproduct retailers 330 in FIG. 5, aggregated orders from any grouping ofmultiple participating product suppliers may be fulfilled by any of theparticipating suppliers as the optimum source, including productretailers. The larger number of products in such a multiple-provideraggregated order may often result in a lower unit cost for the productand/or other more favorable terms, and may not have been available to asingle product supplier searching for smaller quantities. Carrying thisconcept further, product suppliers may actively bid to fulfill orders(individual or aggregated) in real time, with the optimum bid selectedfor fulfillment. Order aggregation as described above (particularlyaggregation from multiple product suppliers) provides incentives forpotentially-fulfilling product suppliers to bid to fulfill orders atmore favorable terms (lower price, faster delivery, lowershipping/handling fees, and so forth).

While there are clear advantages to the various order-aggregationschemes enabled by the present invention and described above, it is alsoimportant to enable individual product suppliers (including productretailers) to maintain independence and autonomy. Systems and methodsimplemented according to the present invention preferably enablecompeting participating product suppliers to work together withoutcomprising their respective market positions. Systems and methodsimplemented according to the present invention may therefore enable aparticipating product supplier to specify an eligible subset among theparticipating product suppliers for aggregating orders. For example, aproduct retailer may not wish to aggregate orders with a local rival,but aggregating orders with a retailer in another state may beacceptable. The system may be programmed to automatically take suchselections into account when attempting to aggregate orders originatingfrom multiple product suppliers.

Similarly, systems and methods implemented according to the presentinvention may enable: a first participating product supplier to selectan eligible subset of the multiple participating product suppliers fromwhich ordered products, listed in orders placed with the firstparticipating supplier, may be delivered to a product purchaser; and afirst participating product supplier to select an eligible subset of themultiple participating product suppliers for which ordered products,listed in orders placed with the eligible subset of the multipleparticipating product suppliers, are available for delivery to a productpurchaser. For example, a product retailer may not wish to fulfillorders for or have orders fulfilled by a local rival, while a moredistant product supplier would pose comparatively little competitivethreat. The system may be programmed to take such selections intoaccount when attempting to locate products for delivery to productpurchasers. The system may be similarly programmed to enable aparticipating product supplier to select: a subset of products availablefor delivery from other participating product suppliers; and a subset ofproducts available for delivery to fulfill orders placed with otherparticipating product suppliers. For example, a product retailerspecializing in children's books and videos would not wish to includeadult-oriented products as available for ordering and delivery, andwould presumably not select such products for availability from anotherparticipating product supplier's inventory.

In order to further protect the autonomy of participating productsuppliers, systems and methods according to the present invention may beimplemented in such a way as to conceal the identities of theparticipating product suppliers from each other (particularly retailersfrom other retailers), and also to at least partly conceal theidentities of fulfilling product suppliers and product purchasers fromeach other. For example, a product supplier may wish to conceal from acustomer the identity of the fulfilling supplier, so that the customerwill not shift business to the fulfilling supplier. Similarly, at leastpartly concealing the identity of the purchaser from the fulfillingproduct supplier may hamper efforts by the fulfilling product supplierto lure the purchaser away. Such identity concealment may be imposed onall participating product suppliers and/or purchasers, or may beactivated selectively for/by each participating product supplier.Identities could not be completely concealed at all levels of thesystem, since ultimately the accounting records generated bytransactions and exchanges must show where revenues are to be directed.Independent and presumably neutral and impartial system administrationcould be implemented to insure protection of participating productsupplier identities, if desired. Such a centralized administrationsystem could be further programmed to mediate the financial transactionsgenerated by product orders and fulfillment.

Systems and methods implemented according to the present invention maybe used to achieve dynamic, automated, real-time adjustments to orderfulfillment and/or product delivery, product pricing, local and/orremote product inventory, and/or other adjustments among theparticipating product suppliers in response to changing marketconditions, sales trends, product demand patterns, or other conditions.For example, in choosing a participating product supplier for orderfulfillment, the system may be further programmed to query the selectedproduct supplier some time after the initial delivery instructions wereissued. If delivery has not been initiated for some reason (examples:product not available due to inaccurate inventory information; equipmentfailure; bad weather; etc), then the system may be programmed to cancelthe original delivery instructions and find a secondary product supplierto fulfill the order. The system may be programmed to monitorparticipating product supplier product local inventory information insupplier database 210 and automatically initiate inventory transfersbetween participating product suppliers to restore and/or maintainappropriately balanced local inventory levels. Target local inventorylevels may preferably be set by each participating product supplierindependently of other participating product suppliers. Localinventories thus maintained are available for in-store direct productsales as well as delivery to ordering product purchasers, and in-storedirect product sales may preferably be included in the product inventorydata in the product supplier database 210 for participating productsuppliers offering such direct sales. A participating product supplierhaving both a physical location and an online presence may achieveintegrated management of inventory, sales, and distribution of each. Thesystem may be programmed to monitor sales patterns and to makeappropriate adjustments to product pricing, based once again onparameters that may preferably be set by each participating productsupplier independently of other participating product suppliers. Thedatabases 210 and/or 220 would be automatically updated to reflect suchinventory and/or pricing adjustments. As with other capabilities of thepresent invention involving interactions/exchanges between participatingproduct suppliers, the system may be programmed to enable aparticipating product supplier to select a subset of other participatingproduct suppliers for inventory transfers/adjustments, pricingadjustments, and/or other adjustments, and/or to enable a participatingproduct supplier to engage in such interactions while maintaining aconcealed identity.

These inventory and/or pricing adjustment methods may be particularlyuseful when implemented on a retailer-to-retailer basis. Anothersignificant implementation would apply to inventories of used, rare,out-of-production, collectible, and/or otherwise non-standard products,wherein supply/demand considerations may create significantly largerprice and inventory fluctuations than would be typical for new products,and wherein product sales volumes are likely to be lower than for newproducts. Such non-standard products are typically acquired bylocal/regional retailers, but under prior inventory, sales, anddistribution systems would only be available for purchase from theacquiring retailer, and each acquiring retailer would be limited tooffering for sale its own local inventory of such products.Implementation of inventory, sales, and distribution of suchnon-standard products according to the present invention enables eachacquiring local/regional retailer (or other acquiring participatingsupplier) to offer for sale a vastly broader inventory of non-standardproducts (the combined inventory of non-standard products of theparticipating product suppliers are listed in the supplier database),and to offer its own local inventory of non-standard products to avastly broader audience of potential purchasers. The system may beprogrammed to further enable a participating product supplier to acceptbids from potential product purchasers for a used, rare,out-of-production, collectible, and/or otherwise non-standard products,and such bids (preferably from multiple bidders bidding at multipleparticipating product suppliers) may be included in the databases andused (along with previous sale data) by the system to set prices forsuch non-standard products.

The music and video industries offer particularly compellingopportunities for implementation of systems and methods according to thepresent invention, particularly when applied to used, out-of-production,and/or private-label products. Large chains and large online retailersdo not typically deal in such non-standard products, which as a resultare substantially restricted to local/regional retailers. Currentlythere exists no mechanism enabling a local/regional record or videostore to offer its inventory of such non-standard products beyond itsown audience of customers. Furthermore, there exists no mechanism forenabling a local/regional retailer to find and offer such non-standardproducts beyond its own local inventory. Implementation of systems andmethods according to the present invention radically alters thesituation. Product identifying information, product inventoryinformation, and product pricing information for used,out-of-production, and/or private label music and/or video products maybe listed in supplier database 210 alongside new products. The localinventory of non-standard music/video products of any participatinglocal/regional retailer is therefore available to other participatingproduct suppliers and may be offered to a wider array of music/videopurchasers. Similarly, any local/regional retailer may offer for sale avastly broader selection of non-standard music/video products to itscustomers. The potential number of music/video products newly madebroadly available through implementation of the systems and methods ofthe present invention may easily number several hundred thousand titles,compared to the roughly 200,000 titles currently broadly available asnew products. A few dozen local record stores implementing the system ofthe present invention may thereby actively compete on a more levelplaying field against giant chains such as Sam Goody, Tower Records,Best Buy, Circuit City, Wherehouse, and so on, or against giant onlineretailers such as Amazon.com, CDNow.com, and so on.

Systems and methods implemented according to the present invention mayoffer further advantages for inventory, sales, and distribution of used,rare, out-of-production, and/or collectible products. It is frequentlythe case that such items are required in smaller quantities than newproducts, thereby increasing shipping costs per unit. This may bemitigated in the present invention if a participating product supplieruses the system to provide a so-called “just-in-time” consignmentservice. Participating product suppliers that have acquired used,out-of-production, private label, or other non-standard products supplythe appropriate information to databases 210 and 220. Analysis ofdatabases 210 and 220 for inventory/demand/sales patterns for anon-standard product is used to trigger acquisition on consignment ofthe product from other participating product suppliers, so that theconsignment product supplier always has a ready local inventory of theused, rare, out-of-production, and/or collectible item on hand fordelivery along with other, standard products, thereby reducingfulfillment costs associated with a typical widely-dispersed remoteinventory of non-standard products. Financial transfers/revenue flow inthis scheme may be direct between participating suppliers, indirect andsystem-mediated, and/or indirect and mediated by the consignment productsupplier. The “just-in-time consignment scheme described herein is avariation of the local inventory and pricing adjustment schemesdescribed hereinabove, applied specifically to used, out-of-production,private label, and/or other non-standard music/video products. Inaddition, apparatus and methods for quality evaluation may beimplemented for evaluating used products and appropriately adjustingprices or rejecting damaged/defective products.

It is intended that equivalents of the disclosed exemplary embodimentsand methods shall fall within the scope of the present disclosure and/orappended claims. It is intended that the disclosed exemplary embodimentsand methods, and equivalents thereof, may be modified while remainingwithin the scope of the present disclosure or appended claims.

For purposes of the present disclosure and appended claims, theconjunction “or” is to be construed inclusively (e.g., “a dog or a cat”would be interpreted as “a dog, or a cat, or both”; e.g., “a dog, a cat,or a mouse” would be interpreted as “a dog, or a cat, or a mouse, or anytwo, or all three”), unless: (i) it is explicitly stated otherwise,e.g., by use of “either . . . or”, “only one of . . . ”, or similarlanguage; or (ii) two or more of the listed alternatives are mutuallyexclusive within the particular context, in which case “or” wouldencompass only those combinations involving non-mutually-exclusivealternatives. For purposes of the present disclosure or appended claims,the words “comprising”, “including”, and “having” shall be construed asopen ended terminology, with the same meaning as if the phrase “atleast” were appended after each instance thereof.

1. A multiply-integrated system for product inventory, sales, anddistribution, comprising: (a) a supplier database, the supplier databaseincluding product identifying information, product inventoryinformation, and product pricing information for multiple independentparticipating product suppliers, wherein (i) the multiple independentparticipating product suppliers may include any of participating productmanufacturers, participating product distributors, and participatingproduct retailers, and (ii) the multiple independent product suppliersoffer products of a common product category; (b) an order database, theorder database including order information pertaining to (i) pendingorders placed with multiple participating product suppliers by multipleindependent product purchasers, wherein the multiple independent productpurchasers may include any of participating product manufacturers,participating product distributors, participating product retailers,non-participating product manufacturers, non-participating productdistributors, non-participating product retailers, and retail productpurchasers, and (ii) fulfilled orders placed with multiple participatingproduct suppliers by multiple product purchasers and fulfilled by themultiple participating product suppliers; and (c) a programmed computerprocessor operatively linked to the supplier database and the orderdatabase, the computer processor being programmed for (i) automaticallyreceiving product identifying information, product pricing information,and product inventory information from the multiple participatingproduct suppliers and entering the information into the supplierdatabase, (ii) automatically receiving, from multiple participatingproduct suppliers, order information pertaining to orders placed bymultiple product purchasers with the multiple participating productsuppliers, (iii) automatically entering the received order informationinto the order database, (iv) automatically searching, for each orderplaced by each product purchaser, the supplier database to attempt tolocate each ordered product listed in the placed order and available fordelivery from a corresponding participating product supplier, (v)automatically transmitting instructions for delivery, for each orderplaced by each product purchaser, of each ordered and located product tothe product purchaser from the corresponding participating productsupplier, thereby fulfilling the order, (vi) automatically updatingorder information in the order database pertaining to each deliveredproduct, (vii) automatically updating the product inventory informationpertaining to each delivered product in the supplier database, (viii)automatically creating a financial accounting record for each deliveredproduct, (ix) automatically aggregating in real time order informationpertaining to multiple orders placed by multiple product purchasers, and(x) automatically transmitting instructions for delivery of orderedproducts, listed in the aggregated order, from a selected participatingproduct supplier, the selected participating product supplier beingselected based on a supplier figure-of-merit.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the computer processor is further programmed for: (a)automatically selecting the selected participating product supplierbased on information in the supplier database; or (b) automaticallyreceiving bids in real time from at least one participating productsupplier and automatically selecting in real time from among biddingparticipating product suppliers the selected participating productsupplier.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the computer processor isfurther programmed for automatically selecting in real time anewly-selected participating product supplier to replace the selectedparticipating product supplier based on updated information in thesupplier database or updated bids received from the biddingparticipating product suppliers.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein thecomputer processor is further programmed for automatically aggregatingin real time order information pertaining to multiple orders placed in aphysical location of a participating product supplier and placedremotely with the participating product supplier.
 5. The system of claim1, wherein the computer processor is further programmed forautomatically aggregating in real time order information pertaining toorders placed with multiple participating product suppliers.
 6. Thesystem of claim 5, wherein the computer processor is further programmedfor automatically aggregating in real time order information pertainingto orders placed with multiple participating product retailers.
 7. Thesystem of claim 5 wherein the computer processor is further programmedfor enabling a first participating product supplier to select aneligible subset of the multiple participating product suppliers foraggregating order information.
 8. A multiply-integrated system forproduct inventory, sales, and distribution, comprising: (a) a supplierdatabase, the supplier database including product identifyinginformation, product inventory information, and product pricinginformation for multiple independent participating product suppliers,wherein (i) the multiple independent participating product suppliers mayinclude any of participating product manufacturers, participatingproduct distributors, and participating product retailers, and (ii) themultiple independent product suppliers offer products of a commonproduct category; (b) an order database, the order database includingorder information pertaining to (i) pending orders placed with multipleparticipating product suppliers by multiple independent productpurchasers, wherein the multiple independent product purchasers mayinclude any of participating product manufacturers, participatingproduct distributors, participating product retailers, non-participatingproduct manufacturers, non-participating product distributors,non-participating product retailers, and retail product purchasers, and(ii) fulfilled orders placed with multiple participating productsuppliers by multiple product purchasers and fulfilled by the multipleparticipating product suppliers; and (c) a programmed computer processoroperatively linked to the supplier database and the order database, thecomputer processor being programmed for (i) automatically receivingproduct identifying information, product pricing information, andproduct inventory information from the multiple participating productsuppliers and entering the information into the supplier database, (ii)automatically receiving, from multiple participating product suppliers,order information pertaining to orders placed by multiple productpurchasers with the multiple participating product suppliers, (iii)automatically entering the received order information into the orderdatabase, (iv) automatically searching, for each order placed by eachproduct purchaser, the supplier database to attempt to locate eachordered product listed in the placed order and available for deliveryfrom a corresponding participating product supplier, (v) automaticallytransmitting instructions for delivery, for each order placed by eachproduct purchaser, of each ordered and located product to the productpurchaser from the corresponding participating product supplier, therebyfulfilling the order, (vi) automatically updating order information inthe order database pertaining to each delivered product, (vii)automatically updating the product inventory information pertaining toeach delivered product in the supplier database, and (viii)automatically creating a financial accounting record for each deliveredproduct, wherein the computer processor is further programmed forautomatically adjusting local product inventory for the multipleparticipating product suppliers by: (ix) automatically monitoring inreal time local product inventory information in the supplier database,(x) in response to local product inventory information in the supplierdatabase, automatically transmitting instructions for transfer ofproducts out of local product inventory of a first participating productretailer into local product inventory of a second participating productretailer, and (xi) in response to the transfer of local productinventory, automatically updating the local product inventoryinformation in the supplier database.
 9. The system of claim 8, whereinthe transferred local product inventory includes used product, rareproduct, collectible product, private-label product, orout-of-production product.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein thecomputer processor is further programmed for consigning to the secondparticipating product retailer transferred used product, rare product,collectible product, private-label product, or out-of-productionproduct.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer processor isfurther programmed for: (a) enabling the first participating productretailer to select an eligible subset of the multiple participatingproduct retailers to which product inventory may be transferred; or (b)enabling the second participating product retailer to select an eligiblesubset of the multiple participating product retailers from whichproduct inventory may be transferred.